Data, son of Soong
by R-Alex-J
Summary: In an alternate timeline, Data is rescued by the Klingon Defence Force rather than Starfleet. How will the android do while living in Klingon society?
1. Rescue

The debate was over. The High Council and the High Command had come back. Surrounded by darkness, the large Klingon picked up a PADD and looked towards the two men standing in the centre of the council chamber. "Martok, son of Urthog, step forward."

Martok, a Lieutenant in the Klingon Defence Force, grunted and did as Chancellor K'mpec had said. Behind him was a slight figure who stood out for his plain white skin and yellow eyes. Even with the usual long hair, black uniform, and armour plating, the 'warrior' was obviously not a natural being. "You have reached judgement, sirs?"

"We have, Lieutenant. By a narrow vote of 29-28, we grant your companion full status as a citizen of the Klingon Empire! Data, son of Soong, step forward."

The white man approached the chancellor and jerked his head to one side. "Good morning, Chancellor K'mpec."

"Good morning? Yes, I suppose it is. Data, you are granted entry to the Officer's Academy of Ogat. You have passed the tests already, the reason for this hearing. Thank the agitator Gowron for this blessing."

"I will, sir. Chancellor, I am curious. I asked a question about the presence of Klingons with smooth foreheads like mine, but I was repeatedly told that you do not discuss it with outsiders. Indeed, such information is classified. May I ask, since I am no longer an outsider, what the status of these Klingons is?"

There was a rumbling around the chamber. Banging his ceremonial staff, K'mpec said, "Enough! Data deserves to know that there was a disease, that we cured it, and that we reconstructed all the injured. It will not happen again. Martok, Data, leave now! Go!"

"Yes, sir."

* * *

It was only 3 years before that General ShiVang had taken a punt and chosen to divert her flagship in response to a distress call from the Federation colony of Omicron Theta. The IKS _Klongat_ , an old K'Tinga battlecruiser, could have continued on, but if it had it wouldn't have arrived first. During the search for survivors on the torn, sundered surface ruined by a mysterious attacker, the newly commissioned Ensign Martok had found a Human-like creature lying on a rock shelf. Intrigued, Martok had himself and the android beamed back up just as the USS _Tripoli_ arrived. It was just his luck that the general and the chief medical officer were waiting in that particular transporter room.

"Who is this?" ShiVang, daughter of Kreem, asked. "Is he injured?"

"According to the transport logs," said the transporter operator, "he's not like us. He's a machine, an android."

"An android? Doctor, take this... individual to your sickbay. Security, report to sickbay."

The doctor, a grizzled veteran warrior of many turns, took hold of the android from Martok, where his hand slipped against the machine's shoulder. Immediately, the head's eyelids opened and the yellow pupils gazed at Doctor Hakan. In Federation Standard, it asked, "Where am I?"

"You are on my flagship," said ShiVang. "This is the IKS _Klongat_ responding to your distress call. We will take you to safety."

"Thank you," the creature now said in Klingonese. "Are there any other survivors?"

"No, and on my honour we have checked. I am General ShiVang. This is my surgeon, Doctor Hakan, and a junior Ops officer, Ensign Martok."

"General," Martok said, "I would be pleased to supervise our guest."

"When the doctor is finished. Why are you still here, Hakan? Move!"

In the hot, dimly lit chamber that passed as a Klingon sickbay, the android sat patiently on a slab of solid steel- the so-called examination bench- while the doctor waved a medical tricorder at it. "If you are interested, Doctor, my name is Data."

"Good for you."

"I have come from a colony of the United Federation of Planets. Would it not be appropriate to transfer me to a Federation vessel?"

"That is up to you," Martok said. "The general does not trust you and I don't blame her. If you wish to leave at any time, you may."

Hakan put down his tricorder and patted Data's back. "I see that you have a positronic net, an internal chronometer, self-recharging power cells, and hair growth. You are a remarkable achievement; who built you?"

"Doctor Noonien Soong. May I ask, Ensign Martok, why you have a relatively low rank for the age and experience I sense from you?"

Martok looked to one side, at Hakan, and back to Data. Sitting on the bench beside the white machine, he got up close and whispered, "While here, be careful how you talk."

"I will keep that in mind, sir."

"As for your question, it is a story I tell few, even though everyone on this ship knows the result."

"Sir, if you ask me not to tell anyone, I will not."

"Do you have honour, machine?"

"If you are asking whether I have sufficient integrity to obey an order of a personal nature, I do."

"Then know that if you tell anyone without my permission, I will be displeased."

Data's head jerked away from Martok. "Have you already told Doctor Hakan?"

"I have." Martok sighed and backed off a bit from Data. "I wanted to be a warrior like my father and his father, but my father decided he wanted me to be an officer. I honoured his wishes and applied. I passed all the tests but then the Dahar Master Kor blocked my application because I am a commoner of non-noble blood."

"That is regrettable."

"I doubt Kor regrets or even remembers the damage he did. With the Mark of Kor on me, I could not even enlist as a common soldier! However, all ships have a civilian staff- the servants- who do the odd jobs considered beneath a warrior. I am no engineer, so I had to join the catering staff. Even then, they did not give me the chance to chop and burn but had me wait and clean tables. The shame was burning."

"But you were in space, sir."

"I was in space! I took the _Art of War_ into account I tried to find honour and battles in my lowly function and gained some solace battling dirt. However, 4 weeks ago we came under attacks from Romulans. The pointy-eared hobgoblins boarded us and attempted to steal something, I'm not sure."

"But you won?"

"I fought back and saved several members of the senior staff. For my quick thinking and warrior prowess, ShiVang gave the commission I so wanted! I found out after that she is an admirer of the legendary warrior Kirk and did not agree with Kor's attitudes."

"Fascinating. May I ask if Kirk refers to a Klingon warrior or the Starfleet captain?"

"The Starfleet captain."

Data stood up and turned to face Martok. "Sir, I now understand your position, but please correct me if you are wrong. You are helping me because I am a lost person without purpose. You were once in a similar situation."

"Yes, you could say that! If the doctor wills it, I will take you to more of the ship."

"Go ahead," said Hakan. "If you are a true warrior, I'll be seeing you again soon, Mr Data."

* * *

"Do you eat?"

Data looked at Lieutenant Commander Arana, who Martok had introduced as the Science Officer. "I am capable of absorbing food and drink, though it is not necessary."

"I'll take that as a yes." The muscular blonde grabbed Data and dragged him to one of the tables of the mess hall. "You are aware that only days before your new friend worked in this hall? He served with distinction when battling my saliva!"

"I remember," Martok sighed. "Sir, I think that you and Data will have plenty to discuss."

"Indeed! Let's get something to test your absorption skills, Yellow-Eyes. How do you fancy gagh?"

"What is gagh?"

"Worms! We eat worms here, and hearts of targs! That's a spiky pig, by the way."

"Do you have fruits and vegetables?"

"Of course. You will enjoy the spicy and tough leaves and roots. I would know, I pick them."

During this walk and talk, Data brushed against a drunken warrior who instantly grabbed at the android and snarled. "I have had a bad day already, Human, and you attack me? How dare you?"

"I am not a Human. I apologise for any inconvenience."

"Is this the android, Science Officer? Excellent, we can see what it can do. Give it a weapon!"

"I have no wish to fight you."

The warrior took out his d'k tagh, a 3 bladed dagger. "I give you no choice."

Data shrugged and reached out. He snapped the dagger in half and threw the warrior back the length of the mess hall. "If you are satisfied, please leave me alone."

"Get out," Arana ordered. "Go!"

Sitting down, the 2 Klingons and the android received a bowl of gagh, which made Data look from the worms to the Science Officer. "I believe this meat is still alive."

"We believe in keeping food fresh," Martok said as he scooped up a handful.

"I would prefer to not violate my ethical subroutines, but in the interests of friendship I will try. I am interested to know why that warrior had such an overreaction."

"He's- BURP- drunk and has problems back home."

"Data," said Arana, "My colleague in Ops would want to dissect you alive, so do not give us reason to give him permission to analyse your workings. For now, I am content to observe you in action. What is e raised to the power of the square root of -1 multiplied by π?"

"0."

"What are the 6 types of quarks?"

"Up, down, top, bottom, charmed, strange. There are also antiquarks that reverse the charges of the aforementioned."

"Good. Get up and run around the mess hall as fast as you can."

When finished, Data asked, "Is there anything else you require, Commander?"

"During our battle with the Romulans, I lost several key warriors and we've been working overtime. I'm only here enjoying myself because I heard about you. Are you willing to fill the gap?"

"Are you offering me entry to the Klingon Defence Force?"

"The formal arrangements are the business of the general. Actually... General, over here!"

Towering over the rest, ShiVang breathed in and snarled at Science Officer for her audacity. "Yes, Arana?"

"I would like Data to work for me until we can get replacements... or he proves worthy."

"He is your servant if you so wish, to do as you please."

"Careful, Data," Martok growled with a hint of laughter. "They, both of them, want to see how you'll endure them."

"At what?"

"Mating."

"It would be a redundant procedure. I cannot reproduce."

"That's not our concern," ShiVang said.

"If you are discussing recreation, I will do my best."

"That's the spirit! Welcome aboard, Servant Data."

* * *

"I care not for your Acts of Cumberland, Commander! He is a sentient being and part of my House!"

"I understand your views," Commander Nechayev told Martok. "This is not my idea, it's just that some of us believe Data belongs back home with his owners... I mean people. Lieutenant Maddox means no offence."

"How is it," Arana growled, "that you even consider using archaic law to call another person property yet claim not have slavery?"

The atmosphere in the _Klongat_ 's mess hall was always tense, but never before had pure fury come close to manifestation. Nechayev, a blond Human with a remarkably similar facial structure to Arana, sat back slightly and clasped her hands on the table. "According to Mr Maddox, Data cannot be a slave because he is not sentient."

"What if he became a Klingon citizen?" ShiVang asked. "You'd need an extradition order and Data has committed no crime on either side."

"You could," said the commander. "However, Maddox is anxious to get hold of this technology and he may bring a case if you're not fast."

"Our task," ShiVang said, "is to get citizenship for Data as soon as possible and prevent this sordid hypocrisy. Commander, unless you wish to be an unwilling passenger, report to the transporter room now. 60, 59, 58..."

"Thank you for your input," Nechayev said before getting up and running out of the room.

"ShiVang to bridge. Set a course for the homeworld, engage on my order."

* * *

The Naval Academy was the first to jump to ShiVang's request, sending it's best engineers to look over Data and test his sentience. The manager, Kardak, turned out to be a huge brute with more muscle mass than the average KDF warrior. "Sir, for a civilian, you look remarkably powerful," Data said as Kardak set up.

"You need to be in this job," he replied as he tested his microscopes. "Some Houses do not appreciate the compromises we have to make when building technology, especially ships. When we have to tell them that their disruptors are too powerful for a B'Rel class Bird-of-Prey, they may start yelling about how the K'Vort has the same, fail to see that they're vastly different classes, and then attack us. We must fight back."

"That is regrettable."

"Yes, though we also have an honourable position. We are one of few commoners who can tell noble warriors that they're wrong!"

 _Several hours later_

"He passes," Kardak told not just ShiVang but a member of a Great House who was just visiting.

"Excellent, we have a case," the general said.

"I am willing to support this," Duras, son of Ja'rod said. "Will you bring this before the High Council?"

"Yes."

* * *

"Let us see this creature in action," Councillor K'Tal said in the darkness of the council chamber. "If we are to stake our reputation and our relationships with the Federation on this man, may he fight well. Bat'leths!"

Data picked up the sword thrown before his feet and watched the wide warrior circle him. Unsure, Data waited to see what K'Tal would do, correctly anticipating several feints. The android suddenly leapt forth and slashed down, causing K'Tal to parry twice. Blades clashed and the councillors cheered as sparks flew.

K'Tal stepped back and spun his sword in a circle, watching Data's eyes. Unfortunately for him, Data's eyes were always the same whereas K'Tal's were open for anyone to read. The warrior chose to go on the defensive and backed away, calling, "Well done, now follow it up!"

Data did not reply but ran to the left. The councillors mumbled and K'Tal paused dumbfounded. The android suddenly hit the wall, rolled over in mid-air and disarmed K'Tal with a single swipe. "May I stop now?"

"You may," said K'mpec. "The council will vote soon. We have also received a message from Gowron."

The council murmured again. Gowron was always good entertainment, but when would he stop criticising and actually do something?

"He says that he believes that giving Data citizenship and ending this enslavement will bring great honour by putting us on higher moral ground than the Federation, even on a shorter term."

"Honour for all of us!" Duras called. "Is not honour what we fight for?"

Something about Duras bugged Data, but he chose not to comment. Instead, he let the councillors vote.

* * *

"Now you are a citizen, what will you do?" ShiVang asked.

"I intend to go into the sciences," Data replied.

"You deserve a more reputable profession," Martok said. "Science alone is not notable. For glory, you should try something else."

"In that case, I will enter the medical profession."

"Doctors! Yes, doctors are warriors and hold respect. You do plan to be a doctor, correct?"

"I do not believe I am sensitive enough to be a nurse or an orderly."

"That's certainly true. Yes, a doctor will be a good fit, certainly here compared to the softer cultures. Perhaps you should know that the captain of the USS _Stargazer_ , Jean-Luc Picard, has heard about you and would like to meet you one day."

"I will bear that in mind. Is he associated with Maddox?"

"No, he's of the opposite mindset. Good luck, Data. May the luck of Kahless go with you!"


	2. Vor'cha

"I am not familiar with the Tzenkethi," Data said. He was inside the dark, reddish sickbay of IKS _Vor'cha_ , the prototype of a new line of attack cruisers that could replace the K'Tinga class. The biobeds, the knives, and the rest of the room where the only parts of the ship that were truly clean. Even the galley was a bit dirtier.

"Nor am I," said the temporary captain of the ship, Kurn. Unknown to many of the crew, Kurn was a son of Mogh and brother to the one Klingon in Starfleet, Worf. It did not take Data long to find out however. "And nor does it matter. Today, we are meeting the Yattho, a race of precogs!"

"Why, sir?"

"We are testing out the ship before giving it to the Chancellor, Lieutenant Data. The Yattho predict that Chalnoth pirates will attempt to cause a disturbance near their system and we will give the Chalnoth the honour of being the first to die at the hands of our new torpedoes."

"Very good, sir," Data replied as he considered the thought of a race who could predict the future. "Should I prepare for medical triage?"

"Yes, Lieutenant," Kurn said, slapping Data's arm. "Prepare what you feel necessary, if you can feel that is."

"I have an intuitive understanding of what most situations require, if that is what you mean, Captain."

"You will go far, Mr Data. We will arrive in 8 hours."

* * *

The chief medical officer's quarters on a Klingon vessel was just next to the sickbay, the theory being that doctors will always be available if they actually live in their place of work. Data spent most of his time here, though occasionally visited the mess hall, and had already begun customisation. He'd designed and built a computer independent from the ship's systems and brought aboard a grishnar cat. Spot looked like she (or he now & then) could kill everyone on the ship without any effort, but she hadn't backed up that reputation so far. Regardless, the android brought up the information he needed. "Chalnoth. These are anarchic, fearsome, and have a high metabolism. They are very strong but this means they can only last four days without food. This clearly has advantages and disadvantages. I would say, Spot, that it is a disadvantage."

"Reeow?" the cat asked.

"A disadvantage. A liability. A problem in a design that is not compensated for by the other factors."

"Meahhh!"

"It's good you understand. Now the Yattho. The Yattho are an offshoot of the Xindi-Insectoids who left the former Delphic Expanse to set up away from the other Xindi species. They retail the quick thinking and they passed through an anomaly that gave them insight into the future. That is an interesting ability."

"Yaaah!"

"I concur. From what I can tell, the Yattho and the Chalnoth are evenly matched. I now need to see the capabilities of each races' starship."

The schematics of the Yattho star cruiser appeared first. It had a pointed central pod projecting wing-like structures- or perhaps scorpion claw-like structures. It had several particle weapons, possibly phasers, and torpedoes. A subspace vortex gave it an edge over purely warp-propelled starships.

Next was the Chalnoth ship, which looked like an old Daedelus class starship. It had a spherical primary hull attached to a rectangular body with nacelles. The nacelles had antennae on the front. Data guessed that although the hull was primitive, no one should assume that the weapons and engines were.

"Spot, it is time we prepared sickbay for casualties. Will you provide assistance?"

* * *

 _Combat log, Year of Kahless 993. The_ Vor'cha _engines and environmental systems continue to function as expected. All systems have passed in circumstances outside battle. We expect that we will see glory soon._

"Alert status one," called the first officer, Commander Drex, son of Martok. "All crew to battle stations."

The _Vor'cha_ was on an intercept course for 3 Chalnoth ships and had just ordered its escorts to hang back unless the _Vor'cha_ took severe damage. The prototype needed to prove its worth. "These are ancient Federation rust buckets," Kurn snarled. "Tactical, please say they will make a worthy foe!"

"I'm reading shields equal to a K'Vort class," said the tactical officer, a small, red-headed officer named Stralla. "The disruptors are similar to our Type-X units."

"Worthy foes indeed," Kurn said. "Offer no warning. We must not miss this chance. Full disruptors, the trailing starboard ship."

The main forward disruptor cannon pulsed and a green stream of plasma punched into the shields of the target Chalnoth ship. "Enemy shields holding," Drex reported. "Estimate 70%. Incoming!"

Taking out nearly a third of the shield strength of one of the Empire's most common cruisers was impressive, but more had to be done. Kurn let the Chalnoth disruptors hit. As the ship shook, he looked at his chair's panel and saw that shields were holding at 97%. "Remarkable. Let them have it."

Plasma streams and antimatter warheads burst forth from the prototype. As well as the common Talon Strike photon torpedoes, the _Vor'cha_ had received the Morath's Fist, which was intended for large vessels like attack cruisers. Kurn remembered the conversation with the android.

 _"Sir," Data said, "I do not believe these torpedoes were manufactured properly."_

 _"What is it?" Kurn replied. He'd got used to Data being calm about everything by now, but he himself did not have the ability to hide his worry._

 _"The tricorder says that the antimatter content is overloaded and the magnetic fields are underpowered."_

 _"Ah. Yes. No, Doctor, that is deliberate. We want this to be as powerful as possible, to destroy what must be destroyed."_

 _"Sir, these torpedoes are unsafe."_

 _"They are, after 6 months. Then we will fire them or rebuild them. Until then, we are safe."_

 _"As you wish, sir."_

A Chalnoth ship erupted in flames, which extinguished themselves the moment the oxygen escaping from the ship ran out. The ship had been on full power, yet one Morath's Fist had blown its globular pod to bits and set off a warp core breach.

The other Chalnoth ships were gone too. In short, the IKS _Vor'cha_ had used very little disruptor warp plasma and only 3 torpedoes, yet had won. In fact, it's shields never dipped below 90%. "How many Chalnoth ships are there in total?" Kurn asked.

"The Yattho reported 10, sir," Drex said.

"Good, good. Brilliant. Are there any corpses floating around?"

"One, sir."

"Bring it aboard. Give the petaQ to Data!"

* * *

The large, hairy, tusked brute lay on the examination bench. The first thing Data realised was that this Chalnoth was a female, not that anyone would notice. The android reflected that on some worlds, the thinking would be the opposite. After some prodding, poking, and scanning, Data asked the head nurse, "Why were we doing this?"

The bulky Nausicaan shook her horned, skull-like head and shrugged. "Kurn must thought there be things on body. Nothing!"

"I see." Data lifted up the Chalnoth and dragged her across the room to a stasis unit. Even for his strength, he strained to put the body in. "Are we prepared for triage?"

"We always triage prepared!"

"Get the others, Nurse. Spot, join me in my office."

* * *

"Reinforce the port aft!" Kurn spat as more phaser fire screamed against the _Vor'cha's_ shields. "Target the closest, destroy it!"

Sparks flew from the science console, but the occupant dodged aside. Due to the Klingon attitude to non-warfare science, there were very few Klingon science officers, even though they would be 'warriors who study science' rather than 'scientist'. To make up for the shortfall, the KDF welcomed other races, such as the Remans. The leathery, bat-headed humanoid returned to his seat. "Four more coming in, opening fire!"

A Yattho star cruiser zoomed above the Klingon fleet, giving the Chalnoth Daedelus-copies a good thrashing. Kurn and Drex were beginning to wonder if the battle was too easy when two more ships appeared. The first was almost entirely a saucer but for nacelles at the rear. The other had a small saucer, a stout neck, and a long secondary hull with equally long nacelles.

"Reading the first, Captain," said the Reman. "It registers as _Avenger_ NX-09, an Earth Starfleet vessel lost in the Beta Quadrant."

"NX class!" Drex laughed. "Is this a battle or archaeology?"

"The other..." The Reman paused, almost in disbelief. "As you can see, sirs, it's an Excelsior class starship, USS _Enterprise_ NCC-1701-B."

Immediately, the _Enterprise-B's_ phasers blew a passing Bird-of-Prey to bits and one of its torpedoes sent a Yattho ship hurtling into the path of another. The blast shook the _Vor'cha_. "Shields at 10%."

This time, the exploding console caught the Reman and flung him, cringing, to the floor. Another warrior- a Klingon- stepped over him and took over. "Medical assistance to the bridge!"

"Data to the bridge!" Kurn added to his own surprise. "Dr Data, report to the bridge."

"Yes, sir," said the voice, unchanged as always.

While waiting, Drex asked, "Wasn't the _Enterprise-B_ destroyed 40 years ago, Captain?"

"It disappeared in deep space," Kurn explained as the rest of the bridge crew managed without the captain & first officer. "The theory is that the cause was a plague and maybe it was. What I care about is that it's here now and firing on us."

Data arrived and was about to treat the Reman when Drex said, "The captain has something to ask you."

"I can multitask," Data replied. "Captain?"

"I need a formula to remodulate the shields, randomise the disruptor frequency, and compensate for the damage to the cloak."

"You can reduce the impulse use and rely on thrusters only to maneuver, so cutting our emissions. I have the formula and the randomisation."

"Good. I see you've finished with the science officer. Go to the tactical station, find weaknesses in the _Enterprise_ and the _Avenger_."

"I do not need that machine's help!" snarled the warrior on duty. The actual tactical officer was in sickbay.

"Yes you do, cadet," Drex snapped. "Data, quickly."

"The _Enterprise-B_ has 4 impulse engines, with the 2 extra added to raise the impulse speed in separated mode. The presence of so many plasma exhausts may destabilise the shields immediately behind."

"Send the data to the _Pagh_ , Dr Data," the captain shouted.

A K'Vort Bird of Prey swooped past, dodging past Yattho particle fire and Chalnoth phasers. A photon torpedo, actually an Eagle's Claw mine, burst between the two port engines. Several disruptor bolts blasted the engine closest to the centre to shreds before the _Enterprise_ blew it away with a phaser blast.

The former Xindi-Insectoids pounced on the old ship immediately. Kurn had hoped to give the _Enterprise-B_ back to the Federation, but now there was nothing left to give.

"The _Avenger_ , Dr Data?"

"I believe the Chalnoth have not updated the shield grid, as the ship still has hull polarisation as a backup, sir. I suggest a direct hit to the navigational deflector."

"Which bit's the deflector?" asked the other warrior.

"This, cadet, is why you should have let me take over immediately. The deflector is at the front of the saucer."

A Yattho star cruiser, as insect-like at its owners, gave the _Avenger_ all-barrels. Another, strangely firing just where the _Avenger_ would go, also hammered against the antique's shields. The defensive screens fell away and Klingon disruptor fire scraped against the hardened hull.

"Target the pointy spike!" Drex yelled at the cadet. "Kahless help us."

"Target destroyed," Data said. "Anything else, Captain?"

"Get the science officer to sickbay and get the tactical officer back up here, please." Kurn turned to the cadet. "How did you get on this ship?"

* * *

With the Yattho saved, not that they really needed saving anyway, the _Vor'cha_ was given active status and would now be handed over to the Chancellor. The attack cruiser class of the same name would now enter production. Meanwhile, Kurn & Drex would return to their former ranks and to new ships while an experienced captain took over the new warship. "I am content to resume my medical duties," Data said. "What do you say, Cadet?"

The boy who Data unintentionally humiliated earlier nodded, his eyes never leaving the android. Data knew that a true Klingon could see the killer instinct in an opponent's eye, but all Data saw were eyes. Regardless, the boy said, "You served with honour. You are more than a machine. You are a person. A blunt person, but a person."

"Thank you. What will you do now?"

"I will go to the _Ya'Vang_ , Doctor. I do not belong on a ship like this, yet."

"We hope to see you soon. Now I must feed spot. Good luck, Cadet. Qapla!"


	3. Honour

"Act and you shall have dinner. Think and you shall be dinner!"

"That is a very dangerous philosophy, Captain," said Second Officer Data to Martok. "It has a high chance of disaster."

The IKS _ghIntaq_ had just come back from a survey of a neutron star. Scanning and watching a glowing ball of light does normally lead to people being covered in gore, muck, and sweat. Having to fight off a group of scum called Acamarian Gatherers did lead to people being covered in gore, much, and sweat. "These bandits are getting worse by the minute!" shouted Doctor Sirella. "We should have torn them apart and fed them their own hearts!"

"That would have disrupted our scan," said the android.

Banging her fist on the mess hall table, First Officer Arana whispered slowly, "As a scientist, I still say we should have smashed them!"

"The deed is done," Martok sighed. "If you are all so eager for a fight, then we will go after them now!"

"Good," said the medical officer. She patted Martok on the back as she left the room.

"Magnificent," he whispered.

* * *

"Scan complete," Data said to Arana once he'd finished crawling over the wreckage in the cargo bay. "I have downloaded the active... data and will analyse it in my quarters."

"Of course," said the blond scientist. "How is Spot?"

"Spot is taking her feline supplements of compounded gagh as always and is ready to reproduce."

"I am ready to reproduce as well," she growled. "You are a good par'Mach'kai, but I want a son or daughter now! So, who would you recommend?"

"I would suggest that if you want to remain committed to me yet reproduce, your best option is to clone yourself."

"Oh, what a great idea. Wonderful, Data."

"Thank you. I will begin my analysis now."

Arana shrugged and got back to work with the rest of the Gatherer ship. The weapons had come from all over the Alpha & Beta Quadrants, the engines the same. "Filth who can't create, only steal."

"Why am I doing this?" the first officer asked herself. "Why can't we get a proper science officer here, even a Gorn?"

That was the trouble with the upper warrior class of the Klingon Empire. Scientists were either treated with no respect or had to work twice as hard in other jobs. Data and Sirella had more respect as medical doctors, but Arana was a physicist first and foremost.

And so she continued on her own for the next hour or so. As she finally put her tools down and lay down for a nap, she found herself waking up again immediately.

"Alert Status 2!" shouted Martok over the intercom.

"Computer," Arana asked, "status?"

"Atmospheric conditioning pump failure on Deck 5, Main Bridge. Controls rerouted to Auxiliary."

What was going on? The scientist ran out of the cargo bay towards the turbolift, only to find it was offline. "No, not the crawlways!"

As she was about to remove a service hatch, Arana saw on a monitor that someone had disengaged subspace communication and put the ship on minimum auxiliary power.

Just as she was about to get out of the Deck 5 service hatch, she heard a hissing from the conduits and then leapt out. A force field came on behind her. "Fek'lhr's beard!"

Finally getting to the two console chambers, Arana asked Martok, "Sir?"

"Data has set us on a new course, locked out all command functions, and disabled communications," Martok snarled. "None of our clearances work. He also acquired my clearance somehow."

"Data's out," said an engineer with a very bony head. "He's heading for the 2-pad on this deck."

"We took out the dematerialisation circuits on the one-pads next to the bridge," explained Tactical Officer D'Ghor.

"I assume you've disabled site-to-site transport as well," Arana asked.

"We've rearranged the isolinear chips, yes," said the Nausicaan.

"He'll be coming past these rooms," said D'Ghor.

"Weapons out," Martok ordered firmly. "Here he comes, fire!"

Green light flew towards the android, but bounced off the force fields. Martok and Arana had already got outside and jumped Data. Two Klingon warriors were gripping Data hard and trying to hold him down, yet he just continued to walk past them to the transporter room.

"Disable the site-to-site on all transporters!" D'Ghor ordered the whole crew.

"He's using a force field cascade sequence to shield himself, sir," Arana explained. "They'll drop to let him through, but raise again."

"I know what a cascade sequence is, Commander. Sergeant, can you short out all corridor force fields?"

"From here, Captain?" asked the Nausicaan. "I'll try."

"When we're through, someone should search his quarters," Arana said. "Commander D'Ghor, find out what he's doing."

"Transporter engaging. Data has left the ship."

"Par'mach'kai," Arana whispered, "what have you done?"

* * *

Chancellor Duras had not only poisoned his predecessor but had also tarnished the name of Mogh, son of Worf. A Great House with such illustrious members as the colonel that had unmasked the would-be assassin of Chancellor Azetbur had been falsely accused of betraying an outpost to the Romulans.

Data had known that his friend Kurn was always a supporter of the House of Mogh. In fact, he behaved as though Mogh was his father.

Data had also known a Klingon Starfleet officer called Worf. The android had briefly served aboard the USS _Enterprise_ -D as part of an Officer Exchange Program. The Federation had already partnered with the Caldonians and the Gorn. It was rumoured to have partnered with a power known as the Terran Empire, but no one could say who they were. Data had offered to be the first Klingon Defence Force member to work with Starfleet and, thanks to the invitation of Captain Picard, had spent several weeks aboard the flagship. In fact, he took part in some of the first missions. These included a trip to Omicron Theta, Data's homeworld, where the crew discovered his evil twin, Lore. Of course, they didn't know he was evil at first, but he knocked Data out and tried to betray the ship to the being that had wiped out the colony, the Crystalline Entity. However, Picard had already noticed that 'Data' was actually Lore and had sent security to monitor him. He then allowed Lore into the cargo bay to see what Lore was up to. Picard had already locked the cargo bay consoles into simulation mode, so Lore was never any threat to the ship, but then the chief medical officer's idiot son burst in and created a hostage situation. Luckily, things turned out for the best, but Worf and Ops Officer O'Brien had been badly injured during the battle. The boy had recieved a stiff lecture afterwards.

Worf and Data had served in honourable combat against Lore and Daimon Bok. On Data's last mission before returning to the Empire, Worf had been killed evacuating an outpost, sacrificing himself for 47 scientists. Data would not allow anyone to slander him, not even the commander-in-chief of the Klingon Defence Force. That was why he'd taken the ship at maximum warp, through a subspace corridor, to a relay station near the homeworld. He was going to broadcast his findings to the whole Klingon Empire.

The Second Precept of _The Klingon Art of War_ is _strike quickly or strike not_. The Seventh Precept is _leave nothing until tomorrow_. The proverb was _act and you shall have dinner, think and you shall be dinner_.

0.68 seconds is an eternity to an android. Data had taken 5 seconds to process all the information he'd found, consider it believable, and decide to broadcast it. It had taken another 5 seconds to decide to hijack the ship rather than take his findings to Martok.

* * *

"I have found evidence of a great dishonour to a fellow warrior," D'Ghor read out. He had found a handwritten note in Data's quarters, the only clue to the second officer's actions after half a day of searching. "The consequences shall be on me and me alone."

"Does he not know discipline after all these years?" Arana shouted. She had been spending the same half day trying to undo what Data had done to the computers. She was working on a way to bypass the transporter locks by making the computer think that warriors were Data, but everything else was beyond her and the engineering team. It was a good job that Klingon consoles were designed to take hard knocks.

"He has served us well since we first met," Martok said as he continued to manually rewire his command chair in the hope it would bypass Data's work. "I would say that his decision has not dishonoured him, quite the opposite. He has chosen to give us plausible deniability in service to the Empire!"

"We assume it's service to the Empire," D'Ghor pointed out. "For all we know, he's picked up a signal from his secretly alive creator to pick up a new component!"

"No, I think Data was acting independently if he could write that note."

* * *

 _My name is Commander Data, son of Soong, Second Officer of the IKS ghIntaq. I have found evidence aboard a House of Duras vessel destroyed by Acamarian Gatherers of a grave dishonour committed by the family of our current chancellor. Ja'rod betrayed Khitomer to the Romulans, not Mogh. Duras falsified records to blame Mogh. Duras poisoned K'mpec. Duras cheated Gowron out of a rightful victory. I say that Duras should be suspended pending a full investigation, or that Duras must face me in combat._

* * *

"We need that plausible deniability," Martok said. The subspace communications array had come back online just as Data started transmitting. This was definitely not a coincidence. "Arana, D'Ghor, Sirella, get him back aboard this ship right now!"

"We will say we have recaptured him," the tactical officer agreed.

"That's the idea, fool! Move!"

"Data to _ghIntaq_ ," said the communications console. "I surrender myself to your judgement, Captain."

* * *

"First, unlock this ship," the captain growled once everyone was back on the bridge.

"1 - 7 - 3 - 4 - 6 - 7 - 3 - 2 - 1 - 4 - 7 - 6 - CalaH - 3 - 2 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 7 - 7 - 7 - 6 - 4 - 3 - taHqeq - 7 - 3 - 2 - Vekar - 7 - 3 - 1 - 1 - 7 - 8 - 8 - 8 - 7 - 3 - 2 - 4 - 7 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 7 - 6 - 4 - 3 - 7 - 6 - Unlock."

"Thank you. Now testify before the 5 attack cruisers outside."

"As you wish, sir."

In fact, there was only 1 attack cruiser, but the other 4 ships were still battle cruisers with their weapons running hot. Data opened communications with the lead ship, the ship he had served as chief medical officer on during its shakedown cruise.

"Chancellor Duras, may I assume you deny my allegations?"

"Of course I deny your allegations! How dare you accuse the chancellor of this barbarity! May I remind you that I helped you gain citizenship? I helped you gain the legal status of a person!"

"Gowron also helped me. Regardless of past actions, there is evidence that you have committed an illegal and unethical action in covering up your father's crime and blaming it on someone else."

"And so you challenge me to combat! If it is a brawl you want, Data, I will give you your last!"

"I ask not for a brawl but for honourable combat. No citizen is above the law and certainly not above honour."

"Then come aboard this ship and we will decide this!"

"No."

"No? What's wrong?"

"I do not have confidence that a battle aboard your own ship will be a fair contest. I do not have confidence in your integrity. I say we go a neutral location."

"And what do you have in mind, smooth-forehead?"

"Khitomer!"

* * *

"So you have poised yourself for a fight!" said a wide-eyed, long-haired brute on the windy surface of Khitomer. "Why this path of ACTION?"

"I chose to act now and think of the consequences later," Data explained to Gowron.

"Good... good. Indecision is like a disease amongst off-worlders! An emotionless... COMPUTER... like yourself has shown more promise than any Nausicaan or Reman! I was right to support you."

"Do you regret not becoming chancellor?"

"Regret? No! They had a chance to humiliate me... and they did not take it! For too long before that fateful day, I sniped from the SIDELINES and criticised! I stood to show that I could act as well as criticise! I could come up with ideas as well as demolish those of others. They did not want me to have that chance, fine! Qapla to them! Qapla to you too in this... DEATHMATCH!"

"Android!" shouted Duras as he came out of ruined bakery. "I will strip you to the wires here!"

Data raised his bat'leth and replied, "Would you rather not respond to my allegations?"

"There is nothing to respond to!" the chancellor shouted as he raised his sword.

Whilst Data wielded the traditional two-handed sword-of-honour, Duras had a one-handed weapon with a curved blade. Data had the more awkward tool, but if Duras had given himself the easy option, what did that say about his skill?

"I see that you are so uncertain in your position that you do not believe it can stand up to debate. You have are lower than a beast born without honour and so cannot be dishonoured. You deserve only a dishonourable death."

And with those words, Data and Duras clashed...


End file.
